After a federal investigation on a trucker’s claim, Springfield-based trucking company New Prime Inc. has been fined more than $100,000.

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration found that New Prime Inc. retaliated against a New Jersey truck driver by blacklisting him in the commercial transport industry after he sought medical attention for a work-related injury, a news release from OSHA says.

While declining to respond specifically, a Prime spokesman said in a short statement that the company is appealing the ruling to seek a trial on the merits of the case.

The Prime spokesman, Clayton Brown, said he received word from “Prime’s Legal Department” that advised this statement be released:

“Prime’s policy is to not comment on pending litigation. Prime is appealing this investigative finding and litigation will begin shortly. The next step is to have a trial on the merits.”

According to OSHA, the driver told his supervisors in October 2008 that he had sustained an on-the-job back injury had was seeking medical attention. That November, he provided documentation that he could not return to work because of medication he was taking.

By July 2009, the release says, he was cleared by a physician to return to work and chose not to return to Prime, and instead looked for work elsewhere.

But, after being rejected for a job, the driver learned that the company had submitted “damaging and misleading information” about his employment to a provider of pre-employment and drug testing services, OSHA said.

OSHA’s findings say the driver’s supervisor listed his truck as “abandoned” when the driver returned home to South Carolina for medical attention.

The driver said his truck was not abandoned, and that he maintained contact with his supervisor while away.

“(Prime’s) assertion that (the driver) could not be found is undermined by (the supervisor’s) statement to OSHA on May 26, 2010 that (he) knew (the driver) had returned to his home to see a doctor for his back after (the driver) made his last delivery in Norcross, Georgia on Oct. 25, 2008,” the findings say.

The driver complained to OSHA. Now, OSHA has ordered Prime to pay lost wages and damages that total up to $100,994.

“Blacklisting an employee and sabotaging a worker’s career is unacceptable. It can have a dangerous ripple effect if employees are compelled to drive when unwell or under medication because they are afraid they will lose their livelihood,” Robert Kulick, OSHA’s regional administrator in New York, said in a statement. “OSHA will not tolerate employers retaliating against its employees for reporting violations, including forcing employees to operate commercial motor vehicles when doing so would be unsafe for the driver and the public.”

OSHA’S release also says: “Employers are prohibited from retaliating against employees who raise various protected concerns or provide protected information to the employer or the government. Employees who believe that they have been retaliated against for engaging in protected conduct may file a complaint with the secretary of labor. More information is available online at http://www.whistleblowers.gov/index.html.”